What inspired Mountain Goat in the first place?
“I was backpacking in Canada when I saw a thriving microbrewing scene in Vancouver. There was great tasting beer in most places I visited. I sent Dave a postcard saying, “We need to start a microbrewery in Melbourne.” Dave was disenchanted with the beer on offer in Australia and was already homebrewing.”
What beers have you got out in market?
“We have our two staples: Hightail Ale, an award-winning English-inspired amber ale, and Steam Ale, a crisp, certified organic ale, which made it into The Australian newspaper’s Top 20 Australian Beers a little while ago. Then we have our Rare Breed Goats: bigger, higher alcohol beers in 640ml bottles, for example, IPA, Double Hightail and our Surefoot Stout.”
How green is the Goat?
“When we started up we used as many reclaimed materials as possible to complete our fit out, and chucked in a massive 11,000 litre rainwater tank. We saved 200,000 litres of water in the first 18 months. We use solar power, all our paper products are made from recycled paper, and our staff get bonuses for how often they ride, walk or catch public transport to work. We’re constantly looking at news ways to minimise waste.”
Where can we get on the Goat?
“We’ve got nearly 100 bars in Melbourne pouring our beer on tap now. Some faves include the Great Britain and The Corner in Richmond, the Napier in Fitzroy and the Victoria in Brunswick. Then of course you can visit the brewery in Richmond. We open Wednesday and Friday nights from 5pm and run free brewery tours at 6.30pm each week. We have all our beers including our specialty stuff on tap and we cook some decent pizzas too.”
